YellowRoush
Senior Member
any tips for a painting a yourself? i couldent find one in the DIY section
tips for painting???
- Thread starter YellowRoush
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CraigNnem
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1andonlywhitie
The Australian...
Painting a what yourself? Lol.
HellsBells
620/677
Rule #1: Take your time.
Rule #2: Take your time.
Location: ideally, you want some place with some good ventilation but no draft, if that makes sense. Painting outdoors on a lightly windy day will suck, it kicks up dust and stuff. A garage works with the door cracked open but dont go in and out too much and stir up the air.
If you're painting ABS plastic or fiberglass, sand the part down with 400 grit sandpaper lightly, then go down and finish to 600 or 800 depending on how smooth the part is to begin with. If it's a small piece, scuffing it up with some 600 will do.
After that, clean with rubbing alcohol, use a lint free wipe or cloth and clean it up real good.
Hit it with a coat of primer, VERY lightly. Your coats should really look like specks of paint and not an actual coat. Wait 10-15 mins between coats and spray lightly. If your paint is running or looks very "wet", you've overdone it. It should look rather dry when you apply it, wait for it to cure between coats, wait up to 20-30 mins if its less than 70 degrees where you are painting or if humidity is really high (> 80%).
Do 4-5 coats of primer until the part is completely covered.
Let primer cure for an hour at least. If it looks smooth, you can go on to paint. If it's rough looking, scuff it up with some 1000-1200 grit and clean it with rubbing alcohol again.
Do the same with paint and let cure 20-30 mins between coats. Once you have the finish you want, let it dry for at least an hour and then hit it with your clear coat. Clear coat should be applied sparingly and slowly, sand between coats if it looks "hazy" with some 1200 grit. Most of the time it'll be fine.
If you don't need clearcoat, just let it sit overnight for it to cure completely.
If this is a header or exhaust part, you can bake it in your oven at 250F for 10 mins to cure the coating. If you have an indoor oven, just know it will stink like hell. You can also cute headers/exhausts on the car by heat cycling them.
Hope this helps! Any questions, just ask!
Rule #2: Take your time.
Location: ideally, you want some place with some good ventilation but no draft, if that makes sense. Painting outdoors on a lightly windy day will suck, it kicks up dust and stuff. A garage works with the door cracked open but dont go in and out too much and stir up the air.
If you're painting ABS plastic or fiberglass, sand the part down with 400 grit sandpaper lightly, then go down and finish to 600 or 800 depending on how smooth the part is to begin with. If it's a small piece, scuffing it up with some 600 will do.
After that, clean with rubbing alcohol, use a lint free wipe or cloth and clean it up real good.
Hit it with a coat of primer, VERY lightly. Your coats should really look like specks of paint and not an actual coat. Wait 10-15 mins between coats and spray lightly. If your paint is running or looks very "wet", you've overdone it. It should look rather dry when you apply it, wait for it to cure between coats, wait up to 20-30 mins if its less than 70 degrees where you are painting or if humidity is really high (> 80%).
Do 4-5 coats of primer until the part is completely covered.
Let primer cure for an hour at least. If it looks smooth, you can go on to paint. If it's rough looking, scuff it up with some 1000-1200 grit and clean it with rubbing alcohol again.
Do the same with paint and let cure 20-30 mins between coats. Once you have the finish you want, let it dry for at least an hour and then hit it with your clear coat. Clear coat should be applied sparingly and slowly, sand between coats if it looks "hazy" with some 1200 grit. Most of the time it'll be fine.
If you don't need clearcoat, just let it sit overnight for it to cure completely.
If this is a header or exhaust part, you can bake it in your oven at 250F for 10 mins to cure the coating. If you have an indoor oven, just know it will stink like hell. You can also cute headers/exhausts on the car by heat cycling them.
Hope this helps! Any questions, just ask!
YellowRoush
Senior Member
gonna grab myself a 4'' cowlhood, and my biggest thing would be having the paint match exactly and making sure there is no runs or anything, my freind bought a 3''cowl for his 2000 stang and he had problems with runs because of the how big the cowl was so i could use just any tips and tricks
Redfire_WNL
THE BEAST UNLEASHED!
Keep the spray gun moving and put 4-5 thin coats of paint and then some clearcoat and you should be golden, just don't leave the spray gun over a spot for to long and it won't run.
YellowRoush
Senior Member
LAStang1234
----------DSL----------
Nice post HellsBells!
YellowRoush
Senior Member
i agree, couldent have helped more
Redfire_WNL
THE BEAST UNLEASHED!
Nope if you spray thin even coats it won't run just keep the spray gun moving and you will be fine. Just remember it is all in the prep work.
YellowRoush
Senior Member
well if i buy the hood brand new and is shipped to my door and is already primered and what not i should be fine right?
Redfire_WNL
THE BEAST UNLEASHED!
I would honestly sand it down myself just to make sure it was done right and follow the steps HellBells provided and you should fine. When I paint stuff or my painter paints stuff he and I usually always sand it ourselves just to make sure it is right.
YellowRoush
Senior Member
hmm will do. anywhere i can get matching ford paint for my car? (screaming yellow)? could i go up to ford and get it?
Redfire_WNL
THE BEAST UNLEASHED!
Ford should let you buy some but if not go to a local auto body store and they would probably let you have some as well.
YellowRoush
Senior Member
thanks for the help bro
HellsBells
620/677
There's a website online that sells OEM paints in rattle cans, that might be pretty the way to go, i can't for the life of me remember right now. There's quite a few of em though.
As for an entire hood, I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna be REALLY tricky and honestly, not to burst your bubble, but I don't think it'll come out as nice as you're wanting it to be. I'm pretty good at painting small things like grills, emblems, and such but I know I would personally never tackle a hood without a proper paintbooth and gun.
If you can live with a less than perfect paint job, then go for it. Honestly though, a shop will paint your hood for $150-$200 at most and it'll look good and a reputable shop will warranty the paint.
If you still want to try this, go easy and go slowly. With such a large piece, you'll definitely want NO wind or gust whatsoever, I would minimize even going in and out of the place you paint it. Once a piece of dust falls on the hood, it's gonna REALLY suck.
I second REDFIRE_GT_BEAST in that you should still scuff up the hood a little, paint stick much better with "grooves" in the surface (light grooves, the ones you can't see or feel).
With a hood, I would honestly do this over an entire weekend. The key to a good paint job is all in the prep work. Sand it evenly. Clean good, and paint it lightly with many coats as opposed to less but thicker coats. Also, I assume this will be yellow, which in my opinion is one of the hardest colors to match, after red.
As for an entire hood, I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna be REALLY tricky and honestly, not to burst your bubble, but I don't think it'll come out as nice as you're wanting it to be. I'm pretty good at painting small things like grills, emblems, and such but I know I would personally never tackle a hood without a proper paintbooth and gun.
If you can live with a less than perfect paint job, then go for it. Honestly though, a shop will paint your hood for $150-$200 at most and it'll look good and a reputable shop will warranty the paint.
If you still want to try this, go easy and go slowly. With such a large piece, you'll definitely want NO wind or gust whatsoever, I would minimize even going in and out of the place you paint it. Once a piece of dust falls on the hood, it's gonna REALLY suck.
I second REDFIRE_GT_BEAST in that you should still scuff up the hood a little, paint stick much better with "grooves" in the surface (light grooves, the ones you can't see or feel).
With a hood, I would honestly do this over an entire weekend. The key to a good paint job is all in the prep work. Sand it evenly. Clean good, and paint it lightly with many coats as opposed to less but thicker coats. Also, I assume this will be yellow, which in my opinion is one of the hardest colors to match, after red.
YellowRoush
Senior Member
how big is your cowl?
4LiterSonic
Banned
If you've never painted before, it might be worth it to just spend the extra 200 or whatever to have a professional do it.
Trust me, I'm all for DIY, because it saves so much money...but on stuff like paint, I'd like to pay someone who has done it before to do it right.
Just my 2 cents.
Trust me, I'm all for DIY, because it saves so much money...but on stuff like paint, I'd like to pay someone who has done it before to do it right.
Just my 2 cents.
YellowRoush
Senior Member
damn...., thats what i was avoiding was spending the extra money, but if it'll make it look good, can't put a price tag on that
HellsBells
620/677
Yeah I would honestly just get it professionally done. Better in the long haul for sure and if you screw the hood up just the first time, it'll end up costing you more money and more time than if you'd just had it painted by a shop to begin with.
Small things, sure, but something like a hood, if I had to bet, I'd bet on it not turning out well (nothing personal, I wouldn't bet on myself to paint a hood).
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